Calgary Woman Honoured With National Award For Volunteer Work Spanning Four Decades – Calgary Herald

An avid Calgary volunteer has been recognized by the federal government for her more than four decades of work in the community.

Gurmit Kaur Sarpal was honoured during a Tuesday ceremony as one of five recipients, each representing a region of the country, of the Community Leader Award in Canada’s Volunteer Awards for 2020.  The awards celebrate Canadian volunteers and recognize individuals, not-for-profit organizations, social enterprises and businesses who have made significant contributions to improve the lives of others in their communities.

Sarpal is the founder and president of the Royal Women’s Cultural Association. She started the association in 2006 to give immigrant women in Calgary hope for a better future in Canada and to provide counselling for women who are victims of domestic violence. But her work in the realm of social and societal challenges goes much further back than the early 2000s and has a much larger scope than just her organization.

Sarpal migrated to Canada from India in 1976. She went through several years battling cultural shock, bouts of depression and loneliness caused by separation from her family, as well as language and employment barriers. She received her nursing degree in India, but was unable to find a job in health care in Calgary due to her lack of experience working in Canada. Eventually, a healing visit at home in India pointed her to her calling: helping others.

“That was the seed that embedded into my mind,” Sarpal said. “This is the purpose of every human being.”

Upon her return, she devoted many years to the Sikh gurdwara in Calgary. Sarpal helped with and sang during services and taught others to play the harmonium. More than anything else, she saw women, new to the country, in the same position she once was.

They experienced “the same problem like I did — isolation, loneliness, depression — because that is due to the cultural shock. It’s different culture, different everything,” she said.

That led her to create the Royal Women’s Cultural Association. “Then I can help the ladies, to lift them up, and take them out of that isolation,” she added.

While it’s impossible to name every initiative or organization Sarpal has had a hand in over the years, some of the work that is very close to her heart is what she’s done with the Alberta Children’s Hospital and Alberta Health Services. She now puts her nursing skills to use with AHS, volunteering her time to lead Punjabi-language healthy living workshops.

And one thing is consistent with all of Sarpal’s endeavours — she doesn’t charge a dime.

“I never charge even a single cent. So, this way, I’m helping the humanity,” she said.

As a whole, Canada’s Volunteer Awards honoured 21 individuals for 2020 — handing out 21 regional awards and one national award. In addition to the national recognition, regional award recipients, like Sarpal, receive a $5,000 grant to donate to a not-for-profit of their choice. Sarpal donated her grant to the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

“The stories and achievements of our 2020 Canada’s Volunteer Awards recipients are truly inspiring, and it is an honour to recognize and celebrate their accomplishments,” said Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould.

“I also want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers from coast to coast to coast whose community spirit and dedication have been especially appreciated and essential for so many of us throughout the pandemic,” Gould said.

This isn’t the first time Sarpal’s work has been recognized. In 2015, Sarpal received a community service award from Immigrant Services Calgary for her efforts. On its website, the organization says Sarpal “has made the world around her a better place to live.”

“I am learning and sharing, learning and sharing. My whole life is like that,” Sarpal said.

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